Chapter 2: The Pit

DRAKESTONE CITYWhile Maria had difficulty navigating through the dark murky sewers, the boy who lived here was smipping and gliding through the passages with ease. As Maria kept following the sound of the boy's footsteps the water kept getting deeper and deeper. Eventually the sewer water was up to Maria's shins.

From a distance there was a growling sound and some bubbles popping. There were also movement in the water, like little fishes swimming away from something. A gentle splash was heard in the distance like something quite large just enetered the water. It came from Maria's right side, the boy was found in the opposite direction. But to the left or right, the water would only get deeper and deeper.

Maria took a few of the mushrooms in her hand and tossed them to the right, hoping it would distract whatever was approaching from that side for a moment before continuing after the child. She was getting REALLY suspicious of the child and patted at where her bag of gil should be with her free hand as she continued after him going as fast as she could.

DRAKESTONE CITYThe boy's footsteps were getting weaker and weaker. Maria would have to step up he pace if she wanted to catch up with the boy. Meanwhile the growling and bubbles have stopped. But you can see from the floating lightshrooms that there was some disturbance in the water. More tiny fishes and eels swim away from the disturbance, some of them brushing off the side of Maria's legs.

The water had risen above Maria's knee but somehow she could still hear the boy's footsteps. If Maria's feet was already under water and she was following the boy, then how was the boy still generating footsteps? There were no panels or sidewalks, it was just a big cylindrical tube.

"No time." Straight backwards. With a swing of her free hand Maria fired a Magic Bolt backwards at where the last thing of bubbles were at. With the next swing of her hand she fired one straight down in an attempt to force the water back long enough for her to leap to the side. She figured sticking to the area where the water was only to her shins would be preferable for combat situations. But she didn't want to leap backwards toward the spot where whatever it was had been coming from.

The silence of winter was what greeted him when he awoke, He was back in the snowy fields that he was in during the last training. A desolate yet peaceful wasteland. There was no wind, it was like being caught in the middle of the eye of the storm. Silent, calm yet there was this dread, knowing that behind the silence is a force to reckon with. And yet despite feeling dread, Sylvan preferred to stay here, even when he was back on earth, or rather the world he was from.

He would turn his head up and close his eyes as if to bask in the sunlight, but even here the sun's light and warmth would not reach and he preferred it that way. The sun only was a light, guiding star, coming from a tropical country. He learned to despise the heat and humidity and grew to love the cold more than anything else. He loved the cold and yet he wondered, since when did he get used to such solitude? He looked around and saw nothing of worth. No Hotels, No Ski-boards, no personal effects or sign of people being on where he was.

It was just him, alone. Sylvan examined the perpetual white infront of him. The silent snow-covered field, that he was so at home with. What bothered him right now was why was he even thinking about it, during this time? Was there perhaps doubt? or lingering sentiments that he had that's causing this? He didn't know and maybe he didn't want to know. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes and trudged towards the field silently and aimlessly, his destination was unknown, and he didn't care. He wanted to find something, something he could unto. On this silent and unchanging world of white.

In a world where it was both devoid of life and yet unknown to death.

Sylvan slowly opened his eyes as the cart that was transporting them stopped. A small smirk escaping his lips as he realized every time they were being moved, he was always asleep.

Ain't that Annoying? He thought.

They were led out of the wagon that they came in and was ushered into a large room, primarily made of concrete, it was like a small dome. And there they were outfitted in preparation of their upcoming fight in the pits. This was it. The moment they've experienced and endured hell for. The echoes of the crowd's cheers could be heard, like the ghost of the halls they were in, sounds, voices coming from all around and yet no one there was making a sound.

It unnerved him despite the hellish training and outlook he has taken on just to survive Meera's stables and J'asha's training regimen. Freedom was close in more ways than one.They could be free by victory or die trying. He preferred the former however and would do everything in his utmost to see it done, that was him, for his teammates however he didn't know.

Sylvan sighed as a thought struck him. Here they were to fight together and die together at worst and yet they didn't know each other or even sparked a conversation with either. Sure it was best to avoid affection to be efficient, however he can't fight fully without knowing the other two, because it would've been no different than fighting alone. Their team was too much of a wild card while the other teams where in all certain aspects a real team. And if they were to survive, they would need to get a grasp of what needs to be done and who needs to do it.

The Raven haired young man would sheathe his dual daggers as he finished his thought and his eyes would scan the area for his team mates. Unable to find the blonde man, Sylvan zeroed his gaze upon a certain red-head who stood out because of her fiery hair.

"Better one, than none at all" he muttered.

He approached Yui from behind, with silent yet swift steps. Not wanting to distract or startle her and at the same time, to find out if she has enough talent to get a bead on him while she was testing her equipment.

Sylvan would slowly reach out to the one of the daggers he had on his person and slowly but surely unsheathed it without a noise or if it even had a noise it would've been drowned out by the crowd. He would slowly raise his hand that held the dagger just above her neckline and instead of stabbing he then would thrust the dagger from behind.

(OOC: Up to you Zeph, what happens, whether you want a parry, a graze, a block or whatnot. owob)

SEWERS, DRAKESTONE CITYThe light from the magical spell reflected back on two round egg sized spheres on the water's surface. It was moving closer and closer to Maria till finally it stopped just a few feet away from her. There was definitely something dark and large underneath the water. The glowshrooms were close enough to shine a bit of light into what was slowly rising up in front of Maria.

From the sewer water, rose up a reptilian creature similar to a modern day crocodile but a bit scarier. It growled at Maria as it slowly opened it's mouth ready to strike.

Yui was both excited and annoyed, as she felt she was ready to get up there and do her thing..But had to stand around twiddling her thumbs while the others got ready. “The others?” She thought. “Where the hell are they anyway?” Being distracted by gearing up and getting ready, she had seen nothing of the others that were supposed to be fighting with her in a few moments.

She would check for them after she finished her stretches, since going into battle solo would probably mean death for her. She wasn't completely oblivious as Sylvan came up behind her, catching his presence out of the corner of her eye while twisting her torso to loosen up a bit. She twisted her torso left, then right, repeating this a couple of additional times just to see what he was up to. Her hair managed to keep her eyes more or less hidden, not that she was making it obvious that she was looking to begin with.

Upon seeing the dagger, Yui opted to bend forward to touch her toes. It was a basic type of stretching, to be sure, but she still had her spear in her hand. With the spear now angled horizontally, Yui shot it straight back towards Sylvan's knees by complete and total “Accident”. Or at least that's what she would claim, if she managed to hit him.

Sure she could potentially take him out of the fight by injuring a knee, but he was coming at her from behind with a dagger. There would be no remorse from her over it..And especially none from Ikas, who was screaming in her head to stab him in the balls instead.

Danny, Ace and Sakuya found themselves in a dark and foul smelling place. The floor was littered with rat feces and the water was filled with rat urine. It was generally unsafe to allow any of the water to enter your skin via a wound or even a small opening in the skin. There were some movement in the shadows, generally small rat noises nothing to worry about. However there increasing number and added curiosity to their new guests were becoming a cause for worry.

By the second more and more rats gathered around Danny, Ace and Sakuya. They were small, yes, but in great numbers they can be very dangerous. Eventually every corner of the room was filled with rats. They were all just sitting there looking at the three like they were waiting for something.

One of the rats cautiously approached Danny. It was sniffing the air trying to get a better read at Danny, till finally it made it's way to Danny's feet. It was sniffing his boots at first but then quickly decided to take a small bite. It had bitten into Danny's shoe, and though it made little to no damage on the shoe, it wasn't letting go.

Maria fell unconscious after getting bashed by the Palamunin's tail. But as it turns out the monster was merely a hoax. It was a get up used by the children who lived in the sewers to scare off intruders. They used a spring loaded rubber tree branch to power the Palamunin's tail. They landed a lucky hit on Maria and managed to knock her out. Had it been a real live Palamunin, Maria would be dead.

They children did ot know what to do with Maria. It was the first time anyone tried to fight their costumed monster and was the first time they knocked somebody out. The boy who took Maria's money came back and he had two sticks in his hands which he used as stilts on the side of the sewer tube to get around much faster. It explains why the boy still had footsteps despite the water level. He came back and told his friends to drag Maria's unconscious body to the nearest exit.

The children used wooden boards to carry Maria on top of the water. The current did most of the job. They pushed Maria out of the sewers and into the moat surrouding the city. They also took Maria's weapons.

Sakuya growled lowly as the Rats drew closer, slipping her katana out from its sheathe slowly, trying to indicate to the rats that they should try and find something else to pursue. She lifted her tail up, not wanting any rats trying to jump after it, her ears twitched as she listened intently for any other dangers nearby "Well these sure seem to be some lovely hosts, making me feel right at home" she said sarcastically.

When Maria awoke she simply laid there for a while. She could feel the missing weight of her knife. She had no money. Her pride was hurt. She hurt everywhere. She slowly rose to her feet and made her way back to the Shuffle Alliance and proceeded to the old crone's chamber and promptly sat down on the table where she had previously been resting. She said nothing and simply waited for someone to speak to her, until then she would stay in her thoughts. This was twice that her kinder nature had gotten her in trouble and she was beginning to have doubts about what she really wanted to do with herself now that she was free to do as she pleased.

The second bout was about to begin. The four beautiful battle maidens from Haremfield were the first ones to enter the arena. The crowd went wild after seeing these gorgeous ladies and their sexy outfits paired with deadly weapons. Word of Meera's fighters quickly spread among the spectators after her scandalous defeat last year, she gained a number of negative votes. Her "slaves" quickly became a joke which the crowd laughed at while the gates of Meera's stables opened.

Meera didn't care what the public thought of her and her fighters, she would shut them all up by winning in this years tournament. "This is it. Remember win 10 fights in the Pits and you're free to go."

J'asha broke up the catfight between Sylvan and Yui, then he grabbed Sota by the collar and threw him out into the arena. He then turned his eyes on Sylvan and Yui and told them, "Go!" before pushing them both out into the arena. Then J'asha stepped into the arena, completing their four member party.

((OOC: I need to know if you cannot control your character. If you do not control your character you will receive no XP from the fight. You have 24 hours to reply. Fight begins after 24 hours.))FREELANCER'S GUILD, DRAKESTONE CITYThe Freelancer officers were finally back from their detainment at Drakestone City's Guard Station. Some of them headed to the Pits only to find out that their team had already been decimated by the Pusong Bato Stables. Meanwhile the Old Crone had left Maria a farewell gift on her bed table. For her honesty she gave Maria a six inch long rune wand. She would have to practice learning how to use it though, before she can master it's abilities.

WEAPON

Rune Wand Lv: 20

MOVES

HP

STM

STR

DEX

MAG

DEF

M.DEF

0

0

0

0

0

80

0

0

Info

Durability: 20/20

Also there was a letter thanking Maria for her help. "Thank You dear Maria for your honesty and efforts. But you cannot stay here, you belong elsewhere. Don't be tied down to a place such as this. Follow your heart and be free. Use this gift to aid you in your adventures and this money to get your wherever you wish to start."

Kindness was something Agnes wasn't used to. When her half sister sold her out to the Delva's she's learned to never trusted anyone else since. Sure Agnes was young and beautiful but she wasn't stupid.~ The endeavor she had to endure last night had taken much energy from her. She was already 7 kilos lighter than when she last week. The more she used her magic, the more it ate her body, her mind, and her soul.~

She could feel it under her pale dry skin. Something had latched itself on to her like a parasite. It was feeding off of her like a blood sucking insect. Using her magic only made it worse, it made the thing inside her come out. Her incidents were becoming more frequent and more violent.~ What was happening to her? How could she know~? Her memories of what happened after she came to Doragul and before she got on a ship to Wrozan were erased. It's like her mind deleted everything during that time.~

Her head throbbed in pain as she tried to remember the events that were lost to her. She's forced to press her soft warm hands her forehead to try and massage the pain away, but it had little effect.~ Agnes couldn't deny the fact that she was hungry, very hungry.~ She didn't have time to think, she just wanted to eat.~

Like a hungry dog, she raced to the dinner table and took the plate from the woman. She gave it a quick sniff, not to smell for poison, but to savor the aroma of freshly cooked Choboco egg in the morning.~ She used her skinny little fingers to guide the food into her sensually moistened mouth.~

As soon as the warm egg touched the tongue, she began to salivate intensely.~ She masticated her food like a piranha and swallowed it like a sinkhole.~ The more she ate, the more her overall appearance got better. Her skin was returning to it's rosy white color and was no longer dry like the desert, it was lively, soft, and smooth. Visually, you can see the gradual increase in her overall state as soon as she started getting some food into her.~

She finished her meal in a matter of seconds and it was apparent that her appetite had not been satiated. "More~!" she shouted at the woman. "I want more~!"

Sota had come to the arena in a daze. Not only had he trained until he was ordered to bed. He could not get the doubts about his strength out of his head. He had registered they had to win ten fights. However before he could really think on it he was forcibly removed from his haze by being violentky thrown into The arena. His head clearing he gripped his weapon and prayed he had what it took to survive.

Thomas received the weapon and armor with a nod of gratitude. He was well aware of the duty he and his fellow knights were bestowed upon taking up the sword in the Emperor's name. After all, to those truly loyal to the Empire, service is its own reward. It doesn't hurt to actually get rewarded though, he chuckled mentally. It had been a few weeks since he had last been with them, but he did not let that stop him from doing his duty.

With the gear in hand, he motioned with his head, saying "Allow me to lead you to the Shuffle Alliance's headquarters. Their leadership is fractured, so I do not believe speaking to one of the other heads will do much good, but if it comes down to it, it would be better than nothing."

He waited a moment to hear what they thought of this, as they might have other ideas of how to apprehend the fugitive.

Ace continued to walk across his path, there wasn't much here to be frank. Water, darkness, and the echo of his footsteps were all he could hear and see. Ace sighed and lamented about joining the mercenary group in the first place. "I hope the other two aren't injured from the fall, or worse..." He grit his teeth, now wasn't the time for thinking about the worst of things. What he should be thinking about is a way to get out of here with his new partners.

Suddenly Ace heard some noise coming from a little ways in front of him. He called out to whoever or whomever might be around there. "Sakuya!? Danny!? Are you there?!"

The sound Ace was hear was a single rat crawling towards him. It was small about a foot long with the tail. It was smelling Ace's feet checking to see if it was edible or not. There were more noises coming from in front of Ace. His torch showed numerous tiny eyes looking at him. Rats, hundreds of them justsitting there waiting for something.

Suddenly the small rat bit into Ace's footwear and clamped itself unto the footwear. It wasn't letting go.

Meanwhile the rats were slowly moving closer and closer to Sakuya. She was smaller than the rest so she looked liked an easier target. They all cired around her like and were at a ready position. Suddenly one of the rats jumped towards Sakuya, it missed but it was able to leap from the ground up to Sakuya's eye level.

More rats started jumping up to attack Sakuya. They have determined her as prey and were now on the offensive.

Yui's spear was about to come into contact with Sylvan's knee when J'Asha the Asshole decided to break things up. She stood up straight and gave the catman a death glare like no other, having no problems showing him how she felt about him.

She had half a mind to stab him instead of her opponents, but after her performance in training she figured she could use all the help she could get. She didn't have to be happy about it, of course, so she envisioned stabbing him repeatedly in her mind to make up for it. Ikas of course was quick to enjoy such a spectacle, suggesting alternative ways in which to stab J'Asha in order to “spice things up”, though such commentary would go unanswered.

She watched as J'Asha grabbed William by the collar and literally tossed him into the arena, starting to make her way into the arena herself before finding herself suddenly shoved forward, hard. She stumbled for a few steps and almost lost her balance, entering the arena suddenly and unexpectedly. She turned and shot another glare at J'Asha, almost completely oblivious to the crowd and her opponents.

It didn't take her long to turn her attention to her opponents, taking the spear with both hands and angling the blade downwards, for now at least. Her primary hand was kept near the middle of the spear, while her secondary and left hand was placed a little further up to help with guiding and controlling the spear. She bent her knees as she turned to the side, sliding one foot forward as she adjusted her stance for stability. She gave one hard thrust towards the opponents, signaling to her opponents, her team and the crowd that she was ready to fight.

THe feel of urine steam comming up to his skin was not really the best of feelings... especially when the ones that originated such urine started to become visible. Those were pretty damn big rats all things concidered. A foot long ones? The liht in the distant curve stopped for some reason, and while the face of the bearer was still not visible, the light revealed more rats, but it was hard to cauculate how many. Then, the feeling of his thick boot being clamped by something. Danny looked down, seeing that a rat had latched onto it. Having previously put the glowing fungi down, Danny would pick it up to look better at the rat... Figured letting it there would be bad, but he knew that removing by hand was worse. Those little claws could only make small cuts and scratches, but in this enviroment, that could be enough to kill in a few hours, quite frankly. There were other rats around the mushroom in the gound, and it was starting to loose it's brightness... And suddenly, someone called out, it was Ace! "Kid!, i 'anvn't seen the wolfgirl yet, but she's not in this part of the tunnel!" Since there was another light source nearby... Even if that shout was echo from another part of the cave, was a sign to leave the fungus be and leave both hands free for anything. Might even be one of the blasted thiefs for all he know. If the others attacked because of it, well... Tough shit. Taking the cord of his jacket and tying it so only a minimal amount of his torso was unprotected. Using the staff, danny stood up and atempted to swat away the rat on his boot before running towards the light.

Last edited by Notingles on Fri Jun 12, 2015 1:01 am; edited 1 time in total